Alborn defends stance on guns

Somewhat similar to August and September of 2011, Ruidoso Mayor Ray Alborn is again taking some heat for a stand involving firearms. Last month Alborn joined with about 750 other mayors from around the country asking for federal action in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting that killed 20 children and six adults.

Tuesday, during the Village Council meeting's public input agenda item, resident Dan Jones asked for Alborn's resignation over what Jones said was the mayor's effort to take away Constitutional rights.

"I believe it's time for the village council to stand up, to have a town hall meeting or workshop, for people's rights," Jones said. "Let the people speak and be heard. It's our rights as citizens."

Jones said people have a right to say what they want, but using a title to advance beliefs is wrong.

Village resident William Green told the mayor and village council he was disheartened with the political use of a tragedy to advance a belief at the rights of others. Green asked the council to issue a letter of censure against Alborn. He pointed to gun control in Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, and Communist China, starting with gun registration and leading to gun confiscation. Green also told of an incident in African gun control.

"When they found a pistol on a bus, they took five people off the bus and executed them summarily in the street. When they looked at my brother, the answer that they told him when he asked why, 'Well, we're pretty sure we got the guy that owned the pistol.

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Green said America was on a "slippery slope," going beyond Constitutional bounds.

Speaking after Jones and Green, Alborn said things had gotten out of proportion. He said he joined the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns in November 2011, more than a year before the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

Alborn said he is not anti-gun.

"We had an employees appreciation dinner. We raffled off two guns. Now, had I been anti-gun, that would not have happened, I assure you."

With a raised voice during the council meeting, Alborn said his view is not about controlling guns.

"I don't care how many guns you have. That doesn't make any difference to me. What it's about is protection our employees, the citizens that come to these meetings, and the citizens that come into these buildings."

Alborn provided the news media with seven email letters, similarly worded, that supported the mayor for advancing concrete measures to prevent gun violence, including background checks for all gun sales.

On Monday Alborn said he did not directly sign onto a letter issued by Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) that was sent to President Barack Obama on Dec. 19. The letter pressed for leadership on mandatory criminal background checks on all U.S. gun sales, work to get military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines off the streets, and measures to make gun trafficking a federal crime.

"I knew it was going out," Alborn said of the letter. "I also knew I was going to be out of town. I didn't sign it, but I am a proud member (of MAIG). I support it. And they used my name because I'm a member. And that's fine with me."

Alborn said he was on the road for the Christmas holiday when the letter and a press release from MAIG were distributed on Dec. 19. He said if he had been available on Dec. 18, he probably would have signed the letter.

Indeed, MAIG contacted its members about the pending letter. Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima said he received an email on Dec. 18 that included a draft letter to President Obama. The email, to NAIG members, thanked those who joined in a coalition-wide conference call on Dec. 17. The conference included information about a draft letter to the president, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner. The email noted any mayor who did not want their signature included should respond by noon on Dec. 19.

"I don't know about Ray (Alborn), and I don't think he's a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, but I know with the Conference of Mayors when there's a letter I can go in there and electronically say yes, I support this and I just get automatically put down as being a signer even though I don't specifically sign it," Miyagishima said. "I still stand behind it. I guess being the fact that my family was in law enforcement, has been for over 25 years, 30 years including my cousins, I've seen a lot of training tapes. I'll never forget that tape about the real footage on the Bank of America heist when the bad guys had so much firepower and the police were just so outnumbered with their handguns."

Miyagishima said he does not want currently registered assault rifles taken away.

"Just maybe put a sunset clause, some how make it so stringent, really difficult to get."

Miyagishima said he supports the U.S. Constitution's 2nd Amendment and is a member of the NRA.

"I have my concealed weapon license. But nonetheless, I don't believe that those assault type rifles should be readily available."

Alborn said he has no gun agenda.

"I don't care how many guns somebody has," Alborn said. "I just think we need to protect our people and the citizens that are in village buildings. That's all."

In September 2011, a number of audience members arrived at a Ruidoso Village Council meeting packing heat.

It followed an Aug. 5, 2011 mayoral order forbidding firearms in municipal buildings. The prohibition was lifted by the majority of village councilors at their Sept. 27, 2011 meeting.